Somalia has expelled Ethiopian Ambassador Muktar Mohamed Ware as tensions between the two East African neighbors escalate over a Red Sea access agreement Addis Ababa reached earlier this year with breakaway Somaliland.
The Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the decision on Thursday, citing actions by the the Ethiopian government that it claims violate Somalia’s sovereignty and internal affairs.
“These measures were taken in the interest of safeguarding the sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia,” the ministry stated.
Mogadishu and Addis Ababa have been at odds since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland’s president, Muse Bihi Abdi, signed a deal on January 1 for 20km (12 miles) of coastland around the port of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden to be leased to Ethiopia. The 50-year-long agreement will allow the landlocked nation to access the Red Sea for commercial purposes and also to build a marine force base.
Somalia has denounced the pact as an act of aggression and a violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty because it considers Somaliland to be part of its territory even though the region gained de facto independence in 1991. Abiy has denied claims by Mogadishu, backed by Egypt, that his government is attempting to seize Somali lands.
On Thursday, the Somali Foreign Ministry stated that Addis Ababa’s envoy has 72 hours to leave and that Somalia’s ambassador to Addis Abba has been “summoned back to Mogadishu for comprehensive consultations.” The Ethiopian consulates in Somaliland and the semi-autonomous region of Puntland have also been ordered to close within seven days, according to the statement.
In response, Rhoda Elmisaid, Somaliland’s deputy foreign minister, has told Reuters that Addis Ababa’s consulate in Hargeisa “shall remain open irrespective of what Mogadishu says.”
“Somaliland is an independent sovereign nation,” the official declared.
Puntland, which is involved in a dispute with the Somali government over recently passed constitutional amendments, has also rejected Mogadishu’s directive. Its information minister, Mohamud Aydid Dirir, told Voice of America Somali that “Somalia’s decision will not work.”
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